A/N Thank you Batsu Simisu-Chan, for betaing this story! You were an amazing help. Eddited June 8, 2010

They were topside when Jeb heard the voices. He was leading a small group to the rock outcropping which sat on top one of the long gardens—the rocks hid the vents in the centre of the circle which let in light for the plants—to try to repair any visible damage that had been done by the cave-in earlier that day.

"Well, nothing for it," he had said after the chaos had died down. No screaming, bless them, even as debris rained down on their heads. They knew better than to advertise themselves, even if this was an attack. Jeb had smiled and picked five others to follow him, calming people down on his way out of the caves, hiding his true fear. If the caves were compromised, where would they go? Maggie's lips were tight and he saw the same fear in the Doc's face, but Jeb smiled the whole way out into the bright light of the world.

And now, Jeb put a hand up to stop the group of them as he listened to the hint of voices up ahead, their owners hidden by the rocks they were heading for.

"Shut up!" Jeb hissed at his niece, who was arguing in whispers with Andy. She and the others watched him with wide-eyed surprise. Maggie inched forward, listening to their surroundings. She knew what that look on her brother's face meant.

"You hear it?" he asked her, and after a long moment her gaze flicked to him and she nodded urgently.

"Take Sharon and Bill around the left of this bunch of rocks," Jeb ordered. "We'll go right, and you wait for my signal."

"Uncle Jeb, Ma—let's just get out of here," Sharon whispered.

"They're too close to the cave-in," Jeb said. "They could find all of us. Is that what you want—with little Freedom just starting out?"

Sharon made a bitter face, but shook her head and followed her mother across the dirt.

Jeb cocked his rifle and ordered Andy and to follow his lead with a jerk of his head.

"Let's deal with this alien scum."

"Okay. You win, asshole. I've got to stop," Ian admitted, leaning up against a boulder. They had come across a large pile of rocks— one of the only features in this godless desert.

"What do you mean, 'I win'? You tired, Ian?" Kyle asked, trying not to sound out of breath himself. Ian rolled his eyes. As if they hadn't been competing for the last three damn miles in order to keep up the pace and avoid stopping for a break. He took the bottle of water out of one of the side pockets of his pack, sitting as he sipped in order to take advantage of the shade the large rock provided. He patted the other pocket on his pack, making sure both of the guns were still there and close to hand.

Water and guns… all you need to survive when hiding from aliens in the desert, he thought bitterly.

"What do you mean, 'I win'?" Kyle asked again.

"Oh, let it go. You know exactly what I mean."

"No, I don't. I was going at my own pace. You're blaming me because you're a baby?"

"I'm the baby? Who has been sulking the last three weeks because he didn't get to bring along the entire inventory of Local Guns and Hunting Supplies?"

"It would have helped us back near Canyon Falls, wouldn't it?" Kyle's voice was rising and a voice in the back of Ian's head told him they should be careful, but he was too pissed off to care. Frustration with their messed up situation had led to anger towards the only person he had left to feel angry at.

"You think it would have helped us?" Ian stood up, closing the bottle and dropping it on the pack beside him. "You think shooting at those parasites would have helped us? Bring the whole town of them out to hunt us, more like! This is why you aren't allowed to carry the guns we do have!"

"And doing it your pussy way lost us the pack with the food!"

"Then maybe it should have been on your lazy back where it belonged!"

Kyle took a step forward and Ian moved to meet him, grunting as Kyle's fist hit him in the gut. Kyle smirked until Ian kicked out his knee and he fell to the ground. Ian stumbled away, but was soon tackled from behind by an infuriated Kyle. They wrestled in the dirt for a few frenzied minutes until the dust cleared with Ian on his brother's back.

"You stupid, idiotic, useless—" Ian yelled.

"Hrmmmhamble grunnnn hmm—" Kyle yelled back incoherently, as his face was being pressed into the dirt. Ian gave his brother's head another push, and Kyle twisted with all his strength, knocking his brother off balance. Ian yelped as he rolled over onto a sharp fist-sized rock and arched to pull it out from under his back. Kyle got to his feet quickly, standing with the boulders at his right as he faced Ian, who was still on the ground. His face was twisted in rage and covered with the reddish dirt that he had been eating for the last ten seconds.

"You're—" He looked up over his brother and saw Jeb and the boys, who were watching the last bit of the fight.

Ian saw his brother's expression change and sat up and twisted, looking back to see three humanoid men standing merely five feet away with guns in their hands. The fact that they looked human meant nothing. By now, that had become Kyle and Ian's life lesson. The guns meant one thing to them—Seekers.

Ian and Kyle's eyes met for a fraction of a moment, and then Ian threw the rock he was still holding up into the air. Kyle took the two steps he needed, snatched the rock out of the air and whipped it at the Seekers before they had a chance to think of raising their guns. In the same motion, Kyle's arm went down and grabbed Ian's, and he pulled his brother up and behind him. There was a yelp and a thud as the rock hit one of the Seekers in the head and he went down. Ian went with the momentum, landing near the pack, reaching into the always open side pocket and pulling out their guns. He tossed Kyle's and twisted his kneeling position to face the enemy as he aimed his own. There was a click into the silence as both brothers cocked their guns. The Seekers hadn't yet been able to bring theirs up to aim.

"Well, now. That was quite a show! But I wouldn't do that if I were you," the lead man ordered. He was older than Ian had been expecting, and was grinning in a lazy manner as he turned the rifle in his hands.

"Why fucking not?" Kyle asked, eloquent as always.

"Because my dear sister Maggie will shoot your brother in the head," the old man said innocently, with a smile. Kyle turned, and Ian gasped in surprise as he felt a gun touch his temple.

"Don't!" Kyle gasped.

"Drop them!" Maggie ordered. Kyle's gun hit the dirt. She increased the pressure, and Ian's followed suit.

"Sharon—grab them up, will you?" The old man ordered. A young woman hurried forward. "Wouldn't want any accidents before we explain."

"You don't have to explain!" Ian yelled as the woman handed their guns to the man. "We know what happens!" He tried to get to his feet, but was held down by the woman behind him. He would rather die than become one of them. "You're going to have to shoot—"

"Kid, do we look like aliens to you?" he interrupted, shocking Ian into silence. He stepped forward, giving them a good look into his eyes.

"How—" Kyle stuttered, looking his young age in his hopeful surprise. "How did you—"

"The name's Jeb. We'll get us all out of the sun, and then you'll hear the whole story," he said, waving at Maggie to put the gun away. Ian stumbled to his feet, still staring at Jeb in utter shock.

"Good thing you fellas got into that brawl there as we came around the rocks," Jeb continued with a smile. "That was a better proof of your humanity than eyes ever could have been."

The End